Say NO to a 20mph speed limit in Worthing

69.4% of people said NO to 20mph & the Worthing CLC voted unanimously to reject the 20mph proposal

The consultation report goes into some considerable detail about the voting and the comments received, and it is certainly worth a read.

We were always confident that the good sense of the people of Worthing would assert itself, if given the chance, and this has indeed happened.

We congratulate the Worthing CLC and their officers on this consultation which gave the people that chance because it was undertaken without any preconceived ideas. We think that the very large number of votes was because people, for once, believed that there was no “done deal” already agreed behind the scenes. Therefore a vote would mean something. It did; and the CLC took full account of the results when making their final decision.

We hope that THE TIDE HAS TURNED; people have had enough of this nonsense. Given the chance the public reject such schemes, which are so often rammed through council meetings as a result of the activities of a noisy minority.

We encourage others, elsewhere in this country, to resist; and hope that other 20’s pointless groups will form opposing blanket 20mph schemes. We are very happy to offer advice to any group with this objective, and we will leave this website and our facebook and twitter pages live, as a useful resource to anyone interested in separating the fact from the fantasy of 20mph.

Perhaps the most important single thing to remember about such schemes is that, without expensive and extensive traffic “calming” features, they rely on the support of the local people to have any effect. They require what those using politically correct jargon call ‘community ownership’.

To all of those who voted ‘no’ and were aware of our campaign; many thanks for your support.

This website aims to provide anyone interested in sorting the fact from the fantasy of the Worthing 20mph proposal with as much relevant information as possible.

As will become very plain from the material on this site the benefits claimed for the proposal exist only in the fantasies of its proponents. The costs however do not.

Our concerns about this proposed scheme can be summed up as follows:

REDUCTION IN BUS SERVICES – Even a small reduction in speed over just a part of the overall route, let alone over most of it, would make many bus timetables impossible to operate, and bus operators have already stated they would review their routes and withdraw bus services from most routes with 20mph limits.

ROAD SAFETY– UK roads are amongst the safest in Europe. The Worthing roads in question are a reflection of this; the number of serious accidents is miniscule given the many millions of road journeys undertaken every year. During the 5 year period 2008-2012 there were no fatalities in the area proposed and only 34 serious injuries. Very few, if any, would have been prevented or made less serious by a lower speed limit. Evidence of existing schemes indicates little change and in some cases an increase in those killed or seriously injured as drivers fix their gaze on the speedometer rather than on the road.

ENFORCEMENT– Sussex Police do not have extra resources for enforcement and say that 20mph limits should be self-enforcing. This means average traffic speed should be below 24mph before the limit is imposed.Sussex Police do not support blanket 20mph limits.

POLLUTION – A reduction in speed from 30mph to 20mph increases CO2 emission. According to the Highways Agency’s figures, at 30mph average CO2 emissions for vehicles stands at 188g/km, whereas at 20mph this rises to 221g/km. This is usually due to motorists driving in a lower gear than they would at 30mph. The AA and RAC both agree that there are increased emissions at lower speeds.

CONGESTION – Slower speeds will increase journey times and therefore increase congestion and driver frustration.This will also exacerbate the bus service problem.

WASTE OF MONEY – £350,000 will be spent to reduce traffic speeds by an average of 1mph-2mph.

20 IS POINTLESS – This scheme, if put into effect, would be a scandalous waste of scarce money which could be used to improve the condition of the roads and the safety of their users. This will do neither but pander to the prejudices of a vociferous minority. It is a waste of time and money, it will not provide the benefits claimed but will merely serve to frustrate drivers.

Please click on the links above and visit the other pages of this site for further detailed information on these points, exactly what is being proposed, what local people, businesses, professionals, motoring organisations and our road safety expert has to say, and much much more …….